Territorial Imbalances in the Post-pandemic Context: A Focus on Digital Divide in Italy’s Inner Areas

At EU level, geographical differences in terms of economic and social development can influence the quality of life (QoL). It is overly simplified to classify countries according to average scores in the dimensions of QoL, as large differences exist between different population groups (Eurofound 2014). However, in order to reduce inequalities (SDG 10) and improve the territories’ socio-economic conditions, a well-defined spatial connotation is necessary. In Italy, the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI) has classified the national territory by first identifying the service ‘poles’ and then defining the “inner areas” in terms of spatial remoteness (update 2020). This study initially provides an in-depth look at how ‘inner’ the NUTS 3 regions are (Bertolini and Pagliacci 2017), and then focuses on digital divide in the post-pandemic context. For each ‘SNAI pilot area’ there are four indicators that monitor the digital divide, in terms of population percentage reached by fixed and mobile broadband (ISTAT). How much is really being done in disadvantaged areas to provide reliable, high-quality Internet access? On this issue, SNAI has programmed about 70 million euros (OpenCoesione), will this be enough to invest in Internet infrastructure and support local training opportunities? Remote working can become a tool for enhancing inner areas if it is included in an integrated strategy to improve the QoL. The main spin-offs for the environment concern the reduction of travel (lower emission of pollutants, especially PM10, 5, 2.5) and urbanisation (SDG 11).